No matter what the outcome of overtime, Craig Anderson was going to be the game’s No. 1 star. The only remaining question was whether his Avalanche teammates could match his heroics just one time in Sunday’s Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals with the San Jose Sharks.

It turned out that San Jose’s Dan Boyle was the hero, or goat. In an unbelievable finish to an unbelievable game, Boyle scored with a backhand “pass” toward the goal that somehow wound up bouncing past Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov to give the Avs a 1-0 overtime win in a game in which they were outshot 51-17.

Ryan O’Reilly was credited with the goal at the 51-second mark, and the Avs took a 2-1 series lead on the Sharks with Game 4 set for Tuesday night on the Avs’ ice. Fifty-one was the number of saves Anderson made in probably the Avs’ best playoff performance since Patrick Roy’s 63-save, triple-overtime shutout of Florida to win the Stanley Cup in 1996. This one, in fact, might have been a bit better.

“You see a lot of things in this game. It’s a lucky bounce, but we’ll take it,” said Anderson, who was so good that Avs fans bellowed hosannas at him in a thunderous postgame twirl as the first star. “There’s only one way to think, and that’s positive. It doesn’t always work, but when you think negative, you’re guaranteed not to get a positive result.”

If some Avs fans were a bit pessimistic entering overtime, they could be forgiven. The ice seemed like it was tilted at a 45-degree angle toward Anderson during the final two periods of regulation. Anderson withstood a final 40 regulation minutes of relentless, withering pressure from the Sharks, stopping 42 shots in that span.

“Andy was just unbelievable for us. Best goaltending performance I’ve ever been a part of as a teammate,” Avs rookie Matt Duchene said.

Of the game’s final sequence, Duchene said: “That’s the flukiest thing I’ve ever seen in hockey. But we’ll take it.”

There was some discussion after the game whether the puck was actually tipped by O’Reilly after Boyle’s backhand, which sneaked past Nabokov to the short side. Either way, Boyle took the blame.

“That’s pretty much the worst thing that could have happened,” Boyle said. “It’s going to have to be (just one loss). We’re going to have to be strong. I’m going to have to be strong.”

“It all just happened so fast. It was just a lucky break for us,” O’Reilly said.

Not only were the Avs outshot continuously, but they got what they saw as no help from the referees. Avalanche coach Joe Sacco finally just threw his hands up in disgust over a boarding call to TJ Galiardi with 3:21 left, a big hit on Devin Setoguchi that left the Sharks forward down on the ice for a few seconds.

Anderson, though, just kept making save after save, 50 in all through regulation. There were so many superlative stops, it would take the rest of this story to document them all properly. Maybe his best stop, though, came with about two minutes left, a sliding stop on Manny Malhotra after a rebound in front on the power play.

By the third period, all the time spent in their own zone seemed to leave the Avs dog-tired. With 9:30 left, San Jose’s overall shot edge had reached a whopping 39-13, and it was almost a moral victory if the Avs just got the puck in the San Jose end.

“I thought the first period we played pretty well, but the final 30 minutes we were killing penalty after penalty,” Sacco said. “Maybe our goaltender deserved that win. He was just outstanding. We feel pretty good. We’ll take the win. They’re a good team, and you can’t take that away from them. But I think 5-on-5 we played pretty well with them.”

The victory did not come without cost. The Avs lost second-line winger Milan Hejduk to an apparent head injury in the first period after an accidental collision with Paul Stastny. Rookie Ryan Stoa also was lost to an injury.

Craig Anderson, right, had one of the finest performances ever by a puck-stopper at the Pepsi Center. He made 50 saves in regulation, an Avs playoff record.

Toughen up.

The young Avs, roughed up in the first two games in San Jose, delivered big hits early to set the tone. The official box score had both teams with 20 hits after the second period, but the Avs weren’t afraid to play the body against the bigger and stronger Sharks.

Killing time.

The Avs killed off San Jose’s first four power plays through two periods — a span of 7:57 — and two more minors in the third (4:00).

WORSTS

New injury as offense stalls

Hejduk hurt.

Avs winger Milan Hejduk suffered an “upper body” injury 1:20 into the game and did not return. He was hurt on a collision between the circles in the offensive end.

Dominated.

The Avs were outshot 13-1 to begin the second period and 10-0 to start the third as they played on their heels. The Sharks hemmed Colorado in its own end for almost a two-minute stretch at the beginning of the second period.

Dazed.

Avs forward Peter Mueller has yet to play since suffering a concussion against the Sharks on April 4. He was seen before the game.

More in Sports

Big Sunday at the sold-out PC, where the Avalanche never trailed in a 5-1 victory over Detroit. Given the score and the circumstance, our game story is all about Nathan MacKinnon and his Hart Trophy candidacy.